A Fighting Chance
by Chubaca
Summary: Picks up where First Strike left off and will end at the beggining of Halo 2, this would be like the 4th book, Includes whats happening at ONI, with the Covenant and a new totally original theory on the HalseyKelly incident
1. Now what?

_This is a continuance of 'First Strike' and will either end in the beginning of Halo 2 or in an alternate to Halo 2. To entirely understand this you should have read the third book, otherwise none of this will make sense, I'm keeping the Eric Nylund's writing style but I prefer the Chiefs character in 'the flood' so_

**A Fighting Chance**

**Now What?**

**1835 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

Spartan-117 stood at the bridge of the _Gettysburg _staring into the black forward view screen. Everyone stood silent.

Approximately five-hundred covenant ships had been destroyed. But John still wasn't sure that would be enough to buy Earth enough time to prepare for a full Covenant assault.

What's worse they had lost two of the finest men he had ever served with.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Covenant would not make the same mistake twice, they would get every single ship available to annihilate Earth and her inhabitants.

John saw a stir off the corner of his eyes, Spartan-104, Fred. "So…now what?" he asked. And got his answer from Spartan-058, Linda, who seemed to have read the Chiefs mind answered "Now we wait."

"Cortana status report." said John. "ETA to Earth thirty-five hours and counting." she answered. "Should I prepare the cryo tubes?" slightly annoyed by the interruption.

"Negative" he wondered for a moment what had her so distracted it wasn't easy to get an AI distracted.

"Isn't there any way of getting there any faster?" asked Sergeant Johnson. "That's not possible Sergeant, velocity, acceleration and even time have no importance in Slipspace nothing I do will accelerate the process" she answered in the same distracted voice.

Cortana had resigned to analyzing the Covenant data she had gotten from the _Ascendant Justice_. She knew it would have taken her hours even working on full power.

She gathered all the data from the _Ascendant Justice_, factored in her available processing matrix and calculated it would take her forty-seven hours of non-stop work to process all the data. She sighed and started. The first few files were recorded human battle strategies she checked over all of them to make sure she knew them all and erased them.

Slowly time ticked by and she was getting tired, there was nothing of significance in the documents. She decided to stop processing for a moment and scanned every single one of the files. She started dividing them into several groups.

She quickly wrote up a basic program that would divide all the files based on their encryption level. It was a very handy program she had come up with several years ago while cooked up in ONI headquarters which directed her to the most secured, thereby the most important, files and documents. Saving her a lot of time, uselessly checking the unimportant files.

_Let ONI worry about those files_ she thought. She continued processing in silence waiting for the files to finish their sorting. It would take a few minutes until all was finished. She kept on looking for anything interesting to occupy her.

She did a random selection on the files to see if she got lucky. She pulled out file #267…nothing. She pulled out another one, file #841 she paused and tried to read it but her translation software didn't react to the Covenant writing she rechecked and made sure everything was working properly. She checked every single line in the document just to be sure.

Yes…it was definite, this had to be a new Covenant dialect, the probability of no word in the document being recorded in her translators was approximately point twelve percent, and even if it was a known dialect it would not have made any sense. She copied the document and deleted the original.

She went through another four files before she again got lucky with something worthwhile. It was a file named: Weapons Systems.

She remembered she had already copied the plasma workings several days earlier. And was about to erase the file when a sub file caught her attention, it was labeled: Pulse Laser. She hesitated and then opened the file. She started reading it slowly making sure she understood everything.

_Of course, _she thought, _it's so obvious_. All ships, human and Covenant alike, used nuclear energy to fully function. It was efficient and easy to make. But the UNSC ships only used a portion of the particle radiation, the other part and the gamma rays were then wasted.

The Covenant ships used up all of the energy, the particle radiation was used for the plasma bolts and the gamma rays were for the pulse lasers, they worked as a kind of explosion but without the destruction it only sent out EMP rendering any UNSC ship useless or "dead in space".

She thought there had to be another factor involved, there was just too much power, something else must have used up the rest of the energy. She put that thought aside, copied the file and again erased the original data.

She checked on the sorting program she had written and then on the crew, everything and everyone was in working order.

**0758 hours, September 9, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC destroyer _Envoy,_ in orbit around Jericho VII, four days earlier.**

Commander Andrew Mitchell stood at the bridge of his recently appointed UNSC ship the _Envoy_. He was having a hard time taking in everything that had happened. He felt he didn't deserve the title of 'Commander', at least not yet. He then for the seventh time checked his CSV.

Five years at the academy, top of his class and four years of navy service, no kids no wife…just the corps.

He had always thought he should fight for what he wanted and earn it, he felt that they had just given him the title out of the demand for ship commanders, after Reach the UNSC ship count dropped as well as those with the ability to lead them.

Well there was no use complaining about it now the least he could do was prove his abilities to the ones that had trusted him with this position.

Their first assignment was easy enough just a quick sweep of the system and back out to the protection of the Epsilon Eridani system.

"Lieutenant Beness bring us into a tight orbit see if you can slingshot us around one of the closest moons and finish our sweep of the system" he barked at the woman on the control panel, she sat back down on her seat, and answered "Aye sir, course correction in five" she typed into the keypad and the ship made a slight course correction. "Done" she answered.

He could have asked their AI but he wanted the crew to know that he was not about to allow any slacking, he would also make sure that he didn't overdo it, otherwise he could lose all respect from his new crew and that was something he was not wiling to sacrifice. Trust and respect in battle was a necessity.

Besides their AI wasn't yet fully operational, therefore it was still prone to error, so for now he would maintain his trust on his crew. He had learned long ago not to be too dependent on technology.

"Lieutenant Anderson weapons status?" he asked at the man sitting in the weapons control. He checked the monitor in front of him and reported "All weapons fully operational Commander." _Good_ he thought to himself.

At least he had a decent ship .Two MAC guns, 26 Archer missile pods and a reactor in perfect conditions. He felt a small change in gravitational pull and noticed they had begun their slingshot around a small moon.

"Lieutenant what's our status?" He asked at the woman in the control panel. "ETA to completion of orbit is twenty-seven minutes sir." She answered.

"Lieutenant take us to flank speed, I want out of here ASAP!" he barked at her.  
Lieutenant Reynolds suddenly sat up straight. "Sir!" he said from behind the radars and communications systems. "Slipspace ruptures!"

The captain watched as motes of green light appeared less than nine-hundred kilometers away.

"Course correction sir? Or should I warm up the Slipspace generators?" asked Lieutenant Beness. "Negative" he answered sternly and turned to the communications officer "Send out a signal on the E-band, get me every UNSC ship in range here pronto! And get me FLEETCOM on the line" he turned to the weapons officer "Lieutenant Anderson, charge up the MAC guns and get me a firing solution!"

"Sir what exactly do you plan to do?" asked Lieutenant Reynolds, his tone grave and worried.

"_Do?_" asked the Commander in a softer voice. "Exactly what is expected of us" he said

"Our duty"

_Authors note: I updated this chapter since I never got around to fixing the anomaly in the chapter anyway its still almost exactly the same_


	2. Meeting Ground

Ok as you most probably noticed there is soon to be a space battle I've been reading up on other Halo fics to make sure my strategy was entirely original when I noticed no one or barely anyone has written one, strange considering how awesome they were in the books anyway here we go Chapter 2!

**Meeting ground**

**1847 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

Cortana felt a pulse in her system and found the file sorting was finished. She reflexively accessed the files of highest encryption.

She found some logs mentioning the rendezvous at the 'Unyielding Hierophant'. She smiled. No wonder they hadn't shot them down at first sight, they had been expected.

She went through some other files not finding anything that really called out to her attention. She checked on the reactor and the crew.

As she kept checking on the files she started wondering about her own lifetime, how long will it take for her to 'die'?

From what she understood, which was a lot, 'smart' AIs like herself lived for seven years.

Since they were not programmed to remember those types of dates she simply checked on the very first data she had ever recorded into her memory.

She was shocked to see it dated to almost three and a half years. Not to mention all the data she had picked up on Halo, which had to have reduced her life span considerably.

She pushed those unsettling thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand.

_Give me anything_ she thought. _Anything that could change the tide of the war, something they would never expect_.

And as if it had been meant to be, her prayers were answered.

She stood unmoving for a few minutes, and reread the title.

"Chief!" she spoke aloud from the bridge speakers. "Your not gonna believe this!"

**0758 hours, September 9, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC destroyer _Envoy,_ in orbit around Jericho VII, four days earlier.**

Commander Mitchell watched intently at the main view screen as the motes of green light started growing into three kilometer wide holes in space.

Slowly the hull of a Covenant ship appeared from the rupture. Followed by the entire superstructure of a frigate.

Shortly afterward another identical ship bow appeared, and started accelerating.

Finally, another hull appeared, this one not quite the same as the other two, when it was entirely visible three interconnected bulbous sections of a Covenant destroyer Shone brightly in the dim light.

The commander felt his heart sink. Although on the outside he had merely grunted as to show to his crew he had acknowledged the threat, on the inside he was trembling. He felt his heart skip a beat as in unison the three battle ready ships turned to his newly appointed _Envoy_.

Lieutenant Beness get me my AI online. "Aye sir, making it happen"

"Weapons status?" he asked. "Sir MAC guns at sixty-seven percent" answered Anderson.

"Sir" called out Reynolds. "I can't seem to get a clear signal, there's some kind of interference, unless I'm mistaking they seem to be sending a transmission. It appears this is some kind of rendezvous point."

_Just perfect,_ thought Mitchell. _One versus three with no chance of backup and a couple more well on their way_. _Not an ideal scenario_. Still it was no use thinking about solutions for another situation. He had to think and fast.

"Send the transmission groundside to Jericho, and have them relay it to every ship in range." He thought of a rough distance between them and the ground. It would take at least two minutes until the transmission would reach anyone up here.

"Lieutenant Beness get us into a tight orbit around Jericho VII." he ordered.

"Contact! Enemy plasma torpedoes away" Shouted Beness. Mitchell turned to the main view screen and saw the two frigates had both fired two reddish plasma bolts straight at them.

Normally he would have ordered to outrun them in the atmosphere of Jericho VII, but he still didn't know the _Envoy_'s resistance, and didn't plan to find its breaking point out here.

"Lieutenant transfer thruster controls to my station!" at first instinct he thought he'd blow out of their way but they'd just keep coming back, becoming harder and harder to avoid. So he had to dodge them and get rid of them.

"Nineteen seconds to impact" said Reynolds.

The commander started reconfiguring the thruster systems to blow them into a safer position. The plasma it seemed, whether by luck or skill, was headed perpendicular to the _Envoy _in a way that the thruster would not be enough to move them to a safe position, at least not a lone thruster.

"Five seconds to impact" he heard Reynolds say in a more than slightly shaky voice.

"Two seconds!"

Mitchell closed his eyes and pushed the button. At that instant the _Envoy_ had somehow turned ninety degrees. The commander had linked the system so that the top right and bottom left thrusters blew at the same time.

A moment later he saw the plasma starting to arc back but it was too late, the bolts were suddenly engulfed in the atmosphere of the planet hovering behind.

Lieutenant Anderson wiped his sweat drenched forehead on his sleeve and announced "MAC gun at full charge commander!"

There was a sudden pulse in the monitors and a calm female voice was heard "May I be of assistance?"

"You damn well can" replied the commander. "Baraka I assume?"

"Pleasure to meet you commander, I read your CSV it's a pleasure to be working with you" A beautiful woman appeared at the small hologram at the side of the commanders chair. At first she seemed perfectly normal dressed in a tight leather like material, but as the commander turned around her he saw she truly lived up to her name.

As he turned he could have sworn he saw a luminescent glow of the sea, as he kept turning the sea turned to a beautiful plain, a rainforest, then a sunset, then a cloudy sky finally a strong rainfall. It was like looking at the heart of nature through a woman shaped window.

"Well then" he finally said. "Get me a firing solution."

She stood still a moment. And then coordinates appeared at Anderson's station.

"Lieutenant fire when ready!" He did not need telling twice he hit it and a thud reverberated across the hull.

"Reposition Archer missle pods A through J" There was a moment's pause. And again the commander gave the order to fire.

As the frigate began to move the commander knew they had done so too late. The fully charged MAC hit dead on. For a moment the shields flickered then faded, rendered useless. Moments later the missle pods began crashing into the frigate and satisfying balls of fire surrounded the vessel.

As the Other two ships turned and began charging their weapons, Mitchell realized this battle could not be won the 'old fashioned way'. No, he would have to explore the angles and exploit weaknesses, using any of the elements at hand to his advantage, otherwise this battle was already lost. He thought back to the first lessons they taught him at Luna academy first day of class written large across the board 'Adapt or die'.

Authors note:

Hope you liked that Chapter but that "space battle" was nothing, I still have a frigate and destroyer and man do I have an idea for this battle. As you can probably already tell I love doing cliffhangers, so if u don't stop reading now. I'll update soon cause I actually know what I'm gonna write now…for once

Anyway keep reviewing


	3. Over and Out

Ok here we go on with the show

**Over and out**

**1852 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

The chief was still standing in the bridge looking forward at the empty viewscreens. An all too familiar feeling of despair came over him as he thought back years ago, at dozens of black canisters slowly drifting away.

He pushed the thought from his mind and then turned back to his crew.

"Everyone" he said in a deep voice. "We have thirty five hundred hours until we reach Earth, meanwhile get some rest, that's an order!"

No one seemed to complain. They were all exhausted physically and mentally.

"Chief!" Cortana's voice came in through the bridge speakers. "You're not gonna believe this!"

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"For the Covenant, yes" she answered excitedly. John smiled, he loved those words.

"Show me." A soft pulse in the forward viewscreen and a document scrolled up into view.

All he had to do was read the title. He heard a small gasp from behind. Sergeant Johnson spoke from the Chief's side. "Where did you find this?" "The _Ascendant Justice_" She answered.

"Cortana is it possible to send transmissions from Slipspace?" asked 117. "Well viewing original schematics for the transmission software it wasn't originally—" the chief cut her off "Yes or no?"

She paused a moment. "Yes, but I'd have to—" he again interrupted "Do it!"

**0800 hours, September 9, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard UNSC destroyer _Envoy,_ in orbit around Jericho VII, four days earlier.**

"Second Volley away, sir!" Lieutenant Reynolds voice echoed through the bridge.

Saying it was unnecessary, there was no doubt the next torpedo had fired. But this time only one came.

"Baraka!" the commander demanded. "Deploy one of our Longsword interceptors.

"One, sir?" she asked uncertainly. "Aye sir launching" There was a small thud and an empty Longsword came into view.

"Calculate an intercept course for it" said Mitchell. "With what sir?" she asked. Then her eyes widened and she smiled.

There was a moments pause and the Longsword slightly changed direction and accelerated.

"Baraka would you be so kind as to over pressurize all exterior starboard decks." Ha said in a calm voice. "_Over _pressurize sir?" she paused. "Aye, sir"

"Seven seconds to impact" said Reynolds in a shaky voice. Beness was trembling and it seemed Anderson was on the verge of wetting himself.

But there was something else, unseen by the plasmas extreme brightness. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the plasma collided in midair and burned a brilliant red.

Moments later the plasma that managed to get over the Longsword, hit the starboard side of the _Envoy_.

With a sudden explosive force the over pressurized decks blew outward into space trying to fill the never ending void in front of it. Reaching the oxygen enriched deck, the plasma started burning rapidly, finally shriveling into nothingness.

It seemed in unison everyone in the deck finally breathed. They were alive, for now.

"Breach in decks 13 through 18" said Baraka in a firm voice. "Sealing off, now!"

"Sir, beta particle radiation rising." said Reynolds. "They're getting ready to fire the Pulse laser."

Mitchell stood silent for a moment. "Exactly how unstable is that Pulse Laser?" he asked their AI. "Analyzing" she reopened the file she had seen earlier and studied it.

"It appears it's a highly volatile mixture up until it's fired, it's sort of a contained explosion.

"Well then, let's uncontain it." He answered. "Lieutenant Anderson, have Baraka get us a firing solution for that 'contained explosion', missile pods K trough N"

"Aye, sir K through F" he answered

Mitchell waited a moment. "Fire!" Anderson hit the firing button and dozens of archer missiles sped toward the incoming frigate.

They started to slowly line up in intersecting courses, all headed for the exact same spot.

Mitchell thought back and prayed his memory served him well. Covenant ships, for any kind of weapons charge needed to drop their shields. As for the outcome of the impact he could only hope it all happened as he had thought it should.

"Lieutenant Beness, charge up the Slipspace generators" he demanded. She exhaled and thought _Good, even he's not reckless enough to take on a Destroyer head on_. In moments she would find that thought was terribly wrong.

The speeding archer missiles hit dead on into the growing bluish light. At first Mitchell felt nothing had happened. But moments later every single light across the ship started to fade then vanish.

The commander smiled. They had been beaten by their own weapon. Then the destroyer which had strangely been ignoring them turned to face them.

"Weapons status?" he demanded. "MAC gun at forty five percent!" said Anderson instinctively.

"Sir slipspace generators at full charge, shall I get us out of here?" asked Beness. "Negative" answered Mitchell. "Reroute the slipspace generator power to the MAC gun Lieutenant!" she stood frozen for a moment. And slowly answered "Yes, sir"

"Sir" hollered Baraka. "Slipspace ruptures at three hundred kilometers." The commander's heart sank. He knew other ships would come, but he had hoped they would have more time.

"Lieutenant Beness arm me a Shiva bomb" he said now clear on what he had to do.

"Sir MAC gun at one hundred and ninety eight percent, Slipspace generators no longer functioning" said Anderson. "Reactor red line in twelve seconds" he said unsurely.

"Finish up a firing solution and fire, Lieutenant" there was a moments pause and suddenly without notice the hull of the _Envoy_ shuddered and nearly gave away as the supercharged MAC round exploded into space.

"Now, Lieutenant Beness, deploy the Shiva at point seventy two degrees, and prepare for course correction. Disable the proximity fuse and set the bomb for transmission end detonation.

She sat unmoving several seconds. Transmission end detonation would mean the source had been cut off, meaning they would have to be destroyed.

He turned back to the screen in time to see the supercharged MAC round collide with the Covenant destroyer. First the shields gave way, and that seemed to be all at first until suddenly the superstructure gave way, caving into itself.

Mitchell breathed again. On one of the screens through the motes of green slipspace ruptures the nose of what had to be a destroyer appeared

"Lieutenant put us on an intercept course for that ship" They couldn't get out alone, so the'd use them to get out. Beness now sweating shakily turned to the controls and the _Envoy_ began turning.

"Lieutenant Anderson prepare all remaining Archer missile pods and prepare them for a hundred and eighty seven degree launch.

"Sir that fires directly away from the destroyer" he protested incredulously. "I'm aware of that Lieutenant"

He looked over at the control panel station and in a commanding voice said "Prepare for course correction at point thirty seven degrees on my command"

"Sir collision in nine seconds" said Baraka from overhead. "…Five seconds, collision imminent!"

"Course correction now!" there was a small push from the engine and the _Envoy _shot slightly up, over the now almost completely visible destroyer.

Mitchell waited a moment and then said "Fire the missile pods!"

Hundreds of missiles emerged from the hull of the _Envoy_ and at point-blank range collided at the top of the destroyer. The last of the missiles impacted and the shields flickered and died.

The destroyer was now in plain view. The commander stood unmoving, waiting. Then without notice they were all pulled forward, back into the still open slipspace rupture the enemy ship had just emerged from. And suddenly all the viewscreens went black

The transmission ended and suddenly the Shiva bomb that had been left behind went up in a blinding light, effectively disintegrating everything in range.

Not bad huh? Took me a while to come up with that. Well anyway don't expect the next chapter soon because frankly I have no idea on how to go on. So now all u have to do is review.


	4. The Never Ending Battle

Authors note:

_Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of its original characters, neither do I own the kikass books by Eric Nylund. I do however own the Envoy as well as its crew and I believe I also have rights to the maneuvers in the 3rd chapter._

_Sorry I forgot about the disclaimer, anyway I'm gonna bring u up to speed on what I think the Covenant are doing now, and I still haven't figured out what Dr. Halsey might want with Kelly so u'll have to give me a break on that one for a while at least. And finally would u guys help me on names, u don't have to specify for who just first and last names for: Marines, Covenant, ONI employees, AIs, planets and ships human and Covenant .I'll use them wherever I need them and say whoever it is came up with it. And also words, Covenant words cause its harder than I thought and I want to name a few of their stuff (just mention the word I'll give it a meaning) Sorry I just really suk at coming up with names. That's about it so keep reading and thanx for reviewing. Btw I'm taking whoever it was' advice on making chapters longer, I just thought I'd make short chapters and update frequently but I'll just write more, summer just started so nothings holding me back_

**It Never Ends**

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Step of Silence\Covenant Holy City "Privileged Society," Parting Grounds.**

'Nuromee was standing upright with rapt attention. He held both his hands suspended close to his chest; he held them in a way that it seemed he was holding a fist sized orb. He held one hand perfectly over the other, one with his fingers going down and touching his wrist. The other was directly underneath it with the fingers facing upward connecting with the top hand's wrist. The Covenant symbol of a trapped soul.

It was unimaginable. Just weeks before he and 'Ptolemee had been working together searching for shards of another sacred Forerunner object.

Yet now here lay 'Ptolemee no more than two meters from him, dead.

_Those wretched humans _he thought. It was them who stole and then destroyed the holy light orb.

They were never able to determine the death of his comrade; they then turned to say it was the will of the gods.

He and 'Ptolemee had been side by side since they were youngsters. Yet now, days after his commendation for being one of the surviving pilots of the search, he was gone.

'Nuromee was one of the other few pilots who survived and felt a strange eeriness at the thought of the unexplained death of two of the other pilots who had survived and been rewarded as well.

He pushed the thought from his mind. In unison, he and everyone present at 'Ptolomee's parting, raised their oddly positioned hands toward the heavens and opened them.

Setting 'Ptolomee's soul free to enter his next adventure. This was a sacred tradition, anyone who did not receive this ritual would be trapped forever in the cell that is the body.

'Nuromee almost didn't open his hands. He felt by doing so he was now letting go of his greatest friend. Yet he did not think it fair to leave the soul of such a wonderful being trapped for eternity.

He waited a while, unmoving. The ceremony was over, and slowly everyone had begun to leave. After a few moments he was left alone. "Goodbye, my friend" he said in a soft voice. Without another word he turned on his heels and left. Not even imagining that a similar fate was trying to find its way to him.

**1857 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\ONI Headquarters, _The Millennium Tower_, Earth.**

"Sir, what of Halsey's mission?" asked Colonel McLees. He was sitting in a long rectangular shaped table, looking at the man sitting at the very end of it.

"What of it?" asked the man at the far end. "It was a _failure_, Colonel. I suggest you stop living in the past and join us for a discussion on actual possibilities." He said dismissingly.

"Actually" said a man not sitting far from him dressed as a ranking Admiral. "The mission never failed per say. It never took place."

The man at the end of the table gritted his teeth. "Then do you mind telling me why the record has the Pillar of Autumn on a slipspace transition at 0647 hours, August 30, 2552?

Fhajad smiled. "Simple. The first sign of the invasion was noted at August 30, 0447 hours. They stayed and battled for approximately two hours and when the destruction of Reach seemed imminent they made the jump."

"I also believe that several Covenant vessels left the fight in order to follow them through slipspace" he added.

"Nonetheless" he continued. "Correct me if I'm wrong Colonel but the approval as well as funding for this particular mission was funded by Section Four, meaning that you, as well as any other Section Three member, have no direct influence in this mission."

The Colonel looked livid. This _freak,_ as he had become accustomed to referring to him as well as his division members, was a living example of what he had so desperately tried to destroy: The Spartan II project. It had been the reason that made ONI dispose of his proposition and instead take Halsey's.

"Ackerson?" asked Fhajad. He along with the other surviving Spartans assigned to ONI made up Section Four. They made up the smallest Division the Office of Naval Intelligence had ever seen. A mere eight members composed the Section which, according to ONI public data, didn't exist.

They had desperately tried to remain there existence secret, because of the fact that they had been the Spartan augmentation "accidents."

If the public ever found out about the horrible truth behind the Spartan II project, there would be a riot of epic proportions.

The public would question everything ONI had ever told them. And ONI would have to do something to regain the trust of the public to some level, and that could end up costing billions of dollars and time they just didn't have.

"As per ONI protocol, Section Four will continue along with any project it desires, as long as it does not compromise any Section Three project" said Admiral Fhajad in a confident voice.

"Mark my words Colonel" he said in a firm voice.

"So long as I am able to continue my service in the Office of Naval Intelligence I will do everything in my power to see this mission succeed"

Meanwhile thirty two floors below an ordinary slow day had been pressing on as another red LED light began to blink. The communications officer opened the newly arrived file. The sender appeared to have chosen the name Cortana. He needed only to read the file name, and suddenly found himself high tailing it to his commanding officers office. All the while thinking _It's a hoax, it has to be._

Fhajad pushed through the oak double doors and accelerated into the hall in his motorized wheel chair.

He ignored everyone and everything on his path, just as he always did. As he neared the elevator he pulled out a small rectangular card from his chest pocket.

Once he was inside he pushed the button for floor seventy-six and inserted the card into a small slot.

There was a moment's pause and the elevator began to move upward for a few seconds and the doors slid open. He instinctively rushed forward into the room in front of him.

A retinal scan, voice recognition, ten digit password, finger print scan and a brainwave reading awaited him in the small room. He now thought of this as a little too much.

Though originally it had been he and his team who had chosen their own security measures and it had also been them who had redesigned them to an even more secure process.

It was very frustrating. If one reached lower than ninety-five percent accuracy, they'd have to go to even more extreme measures.

When he finished the huge metallic doors in front of him slid open. Revealing a wide corridor filled with doors on each side.

He entered the room with an unmatched authority, finally he was among family.

He passed through several doors, each one leading to a different project, computer, material or testing facility. They had an entire floor for their studies.

Each door had a label, all of which he knew by heart. _Antimatter engines, Orbital Station layouts, Virtual Reality Simulations, MAC and MAP cannon Schematics, Shielding Systems, MJOLNIR…_the list went on and on.

He reached a fork on the corridor and turned right. He reached the end of the corridor which opened into a large chamber with computer terminals and a circular table in the middle.

As he reached the table he saw a sight that he had not seen in what felt like ages. All seven of his comrades were at the table, all apparently waiting for his arrival.

He enjoyed these rare moments when they all sat together, it was then where they truly came up with the greatest ideas and solutions.

"Sir" said Joseph. He had been assigned to work at ONI at age fourteen just like all the others here. After the augmentation he was discovered to have Parkinson as a side effect.

"Communications just sent us a file, no more than three minutes ago" he said calmly.

Fhajad wondered what it could possibly be. ONI protocol stated that any file received must be forwarded to any Division that was even remotely related to the content of the file.

The problem was that since Section Four had such a large variety there was little that was not sent to them. The mere fact that they had all gathered to discuss it, implicated it was not any ordinary file.

One of them pushed a button and a 3-D image appeared in the middle of the table. It was a file which was displayed in a cleverly designed hologram which projected the image in a way that no matter where you stood it looked the same.

It had been a Section Four invention which was promptly patented. By making and patenting new invention Section Four was able to fund itself. Otherwise they would have been closed down long ago from lack of funding.

The Admiral read the title and was intrigued. It was indeed something that could have changed the tide of the war yet it was not clear to him why they had received the file.

He quickly scanned the file and was surprised to find that it had been Cortana who had sent the file. He felt better at knowing that she was well. Not only because they had been the ones that made her but because her survival meant the Chief must be alive as well.

Still puzzled that the team found this so intriguing he kept scanning it for anything suspicious. Then he saw it. A code he had not seen in years. A Spartan code put into numbers to cleverly disguise any hidden file or document.

He kept staring at it: **0005 **

The most known phrase among the Spartans put in words was without a doubt: Olly Olly Oxen Free. Which in an abbreviation would be OOOF. That turned into an entirely numerical sequence could be interpreted as 0005.

Normally most numbers in ONI document had hyperlinks indicating file numbers. So the fact that this number had a link to it would not cause any disturbance. But to them, it was just too much to be a coincidence.

He was sure this second document was not meant for Section Three. He knew they would still be too busy with the first file to even worry about this one.

He hesitated a moment and then opened the hidden subfile.

_Brilliant_ he thought. _Sheer brilliance._

Cleverly engineered so everyone received only what they should. Cortana truly was one of their greatest achievements. Section Four got the entire schematics for the Shielding systems in the Covenant vessels and Section Three got the file from _Ascendant Justice_ which indicated every exact spot from which the ship had ever entered or exited a slipspace rupture, one of which lead to the very heart of the Covenant: The Prophets homeworld.

"Well then" said Fhajad. "Let's get to work."

**1857 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

The Chief saw a flicker in the lighting system on the over head lights and on the computer screens all around him.

"What the hell was that?" he heard Johnson say from behind him.

"Sir that's what I tried to tell you" said Cortana. "Our transmission gear wasn't originally developed for slipspace transmissions. It's left our power source dangerously low."

John swore under his breath. He knew he should have listened to her before he ordered the transmission, but he couldn't just stand around here wondering what could have been. "How much power do we have left?"

"Not enough to make it home" she answered.

"Son of a bitch" said Johnson softly. "Well then, what do we do?"

"There's nothing I can do" she explained. "If I put in all the energy we have left into accelerating out of here, then by the laws of slipspace everything would expand" she knew how hard it must be to understand.

"And that in english would be?" asked the Sergeant.

"Slipspace is a highly compressed version of normal space. The amount of time that a trip in slipspace will take is determined by how the entry rupture is made" she went on.

"The amount of time it's going to take us to get there is predetermined. If I accelerate then slipspace will just expand, it will take the same time. We'd be traveling faster but in a longer path."

"How about you slow down instead?" asked Fred. "If you slow down the path will shorten, we'd still get there at the same time but we'll be consuming less energy."

Cortana smiled. "I tried that. That was that flicker in the light systems you saw. It's still not enough" she answered.

"Best case scenario we last twenty three hours" she answered. "Then every system would shut down, including me. Not that I wouldn't enjoy a little bit of rest for a change"

"I'm sorry I just can't make energy. It's against the law" she smiled. "Laws of physics that is."

The Chief was deep in thought. _There has to be a way, there always is._ He was thinking all wrong. They couldn't _make_ energy, they could only transform it. He looked around him, as if there would be a sign pointing to some sort of endless energy source.

There was nothing there. He needed some sort of energy source. All he saw was several crates, chairs, posters, computers, but these were all_ matter_. He couldn't change matter into energy.

He paused. He felt his heart thumping hard in his chest. _Matter into energy_. That was it. Their only hope. He was about to put Einstein's most famous theory to the test.


	5. No Sweat

_A/N: Thanks a lot for reviewing it's been fun writing for u guys I have no idea how long this story's gonna be so I hope it's going to keep up for while, it's great having something to do when I'm bored out of my mind (which seems to be more often than not) I've made a huge mistake and I'm saying it cause I don't want any of u to make the same mistake so never I mean NEVER, start a story if u don't know how to finish it, I started this story with the idea that after first strike they still had several Spartans left and tons of information to get to ONI not to mention the whole Halsey/Kelly incident so I will try my best but u should really think everything before starting, anyway I'm gonna start addressing some of the reviews so ok the first of many:_

_**James Holester**: I'll take up on making chapters longer all of them should be close to the length of Chapter 4_

_**Spartan014**: This "format change" ur talking about is way too vague but either way I like the way its going now the first two chapters are actually quite different from the second two but I seriously doubt I'll make any drastic changes. Anyway if ur talking about how I keep changing the scenes like 3 times per chapter I'm pretty sure it's gonna stay like that its like trying to fill five glasses with a limited amount of water u want them all to have the same amount at the end so to make sure none falls way too behind from the others u pour little amounts at a time into each glass until u run out, same here I don't want any part of the story to fall behind so I keep changing until in the end they have all met up at some point (If someone else thinks I shouldn't do this put in a review if it bothers too many ppl I'll change it)_

_**Warp Ligia Obscura**: exactly what do u mean by spelling and grammar cause I checked and in word there aren't many problems, or do u mean that the message isn't easy to understand cause I've been kind of worried about that anyway I'll try to make the message clearer_

_Everyone else thanks for reviewing_

_Sorry to have taken so long but still here it is Chapter 5!_

**No Sweat**

**0807 hours, September 9, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC destroyer _Envoy,_ in orbit around Jericho VII, four days earlier, in Slipspace.**

"Where the hell are we?" Mitchell heard Lieutenant Anderson ask. Still slightly disoriented he stood up straighter and answered "Slipspace"

"We went in through that last destroyers exit vector" said Lieutenant Beness to herself in an awed voice. "We knew it was possible to follow through a tear in slipspace but no one knew you could go back through them"

"Until now" said Mitchell as he finally got his bearings.

"Wait what exactly happened back there?" asked Anderson it seemed he did not yet fully grasp what they had done and from the looks of it neither did Reynolds.

Baraka sighed softly. "After a ship enters or exits slipstream the tear which they had to rip in subspace to create the portal between the dimensions lingers momentarily. But the energy needed to keep that portal open is quickly depleted. When it is completely finished the tear begins to close." There was a moments silence until she came up with an appropriate example.

"It's sort of like blowing hard into a small puddle of water. If you blow hard enough the water will part enough to show the solid surface beneath once you stop blowing it will quickly rush in to fill the empty space again." Both Lieutenants seemed to have begun comprehending.

"However there seems to be enough time to follow a tear before it closes and now it also seems possible to enter from the exit of it as well."

"Wait" said Reynolds. "So now we're going to follow the path they already made?"

"Not necessarily" she answered. "Of course if we do nothing we will end up wherever it is they started off, but now that we are in Slipspace we can alter our direction as we please" she paused momentarily and placed her hands on her hips. "But of course since I have no idea on which vector we entered it is impossible to tell where we will end up, no matter how much we change course"

She looked over at Mitchell with raised eyebrows. "I do however hope that we will not stay on this course since it seems more than likely that wherever we end up there will be quite a few Covenant"

"Hope no more" said Mitchell without looking at her. "We won't be staying on this course much longer"

"I do, however, hope to know where this course leads." he said with no change in tone. "The power used to make a tear in slipspace is directly proportional to the distance to be traveled correct?" he asked finally looking over at the AI.

"Yes, but it is possible to change the distance while in slipspace" she answered in a curious voice. "And if I choose not to alter that distance it is still possible to change the direction?"

This time it took her a few second before answering "I suppose so"

"Good. And if you knew the time we traveled and the precise course correction we made could you guess where this tear originally started?"

She again paused this time slightly longer. "No" she said flatly. "It is not within my processing matrix to do such calculations, I'm a navigator." Being a 'dumb' AI had some considerable drawbacks Baraka was electronically tied to navigation and asking her almost anything that happened outside a ship was as useful as asking the commanders chair for a glass of water.

"But it is possible… of course the information will have to be sent to ONI headquarters but if the numbers are left unchanged I'm sure they can do the math."

Mitchell smiled. "Good enough" he breathed heavily before continuing. "Lieutenant Beness would you be so kind as to change out course one point five degrees starboard?" She wheeled around in her seat and started typing.

Thankfully, course corrections didn't need the Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace generators which needed another hour and a half before they would cool off enough to re-use. Normally one point five degrees is nothing but when put to such massive scales the difference would be in several million kilometers.

The engines silently whirred to life and an imperceptible life saving, change in course took place.

**1857 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

"E mc2­" The chief spoke absentmindedly in a voice that not even his Spartans could hear. "What?" he heard the distant voice of Cortana ask.

"E mc2­" he said in a slightly louder voice. "Energy equals mass times the speed of light to the second power" he said thoughtfully. "What the hell are you getting at?" asked Johnson.

"Einstein believed that if you got any type of matter to move fast enough it would begin to fall apart. At one point the pieces would be so small they would reach molecular levels. Once it was down to its very atoms they to would be ripped apart and release the very heart of all matter." He looked determinedly at Cortana until understanding dawned on her. Her eyes widened and the Chief smiled an imperceptible smile under his reflective visor.

"Pure energy" she said in a hushed whisper.

"It's never been proved" said Will and Fred nodded in agreement. "It's never been disproved either" said Linda. "It's a long shot but it's our best shot."

"No…" Cortana held up a lavender hand and shook her head, several figures rippled through her 'body' and she looked up "Our only shot"

"Wait" said Fred. "But even if it is possible how the hell are we supposed to harness that energy?" he asked

"Well if it _is_ pure energy any type of adapter such as an electrical outlet, a battery or even the ships reactors, should be able to convert it into a highly efficient energy source: heat, voltage, nuclear energy, whatever." She answered matter-of-factly.

"But for it to reach the ships power grids it must be made in the in the power supply storage since we obviously we have no way of transporting it" Linda said thoughtfully. "Which means—"

John interrupted "Which means we'd have to shut down the ships power long enough to get in there."

Everyone paused at this. Shutting the power would leave them with no lights, the artificial gravity would fail, air would stop being pumped into the compartments and not to mention, Cortana would be shut down.

When, and more importantly if, the power came back on it would take several hours to get everything back to proper working order. The ship would continue through slipspace but, within a matter of minutes, carrying a dead crew.

"Well…" Cortana's voice trailing away "Not necessarily" she said slowly and carefully.

"All ships have two power supplies that meet at the reactor. It was originally made in—" "Focus" interrupted Johnson.

"Well, it was made in case one side of the ship got heavily damaged so there's one on the starboard side and one on the port side so a crippled ship could still have enough power to make it to a safe location." She paused before continuing.

"We could disable one of them let it cool a few minutes and toss in just about anything, before attempting to reach approximately…" her voice trailed away again and a fresh wave of figures flashed through her "Two hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and twenty kilometers…_per second_" she paused for the effect and smiled. "No sweat"

"I though you said acceleration didn't matter in slipspace" said Will.

"It doesn't" she answered. "By accelerating we will make no progress but we will still accelerate. In slipspace we travel at slightly lower-than-light speed, at around Mach one-point-eight million, compared to the Mach two-point-seven million needed" she looked at each of them in turn as she talked and stopped at John.

"Is there enough energy in one of the power supplies to give us enough time to finish this?" asked Johnson.

"No… but I can transfer some of the energy in one tank to the other and reverse a few energy flows to give you a considerable amount of time, but I can't promise anything" she said as though there was nothing to lose.

"So once the system is down we should be able to toss in anything into the power supply right?" asked Fred dubiously.

"Yes… and no" answered Cortana. She looked around at everyone and sighed. "We _could _but I don't think we should. If Einstein's theory is correct then not only will the matter we put into supply room but the whole ship would start breaking down into atoms."

"So it would be better to put in many small things than a few large things. That way everything will be transformed much faster, otherwise this whole ship would be turned into energy" she said.

"Of course the only problem would be finding enough energy to actually get us to go fast enough to make that transformation"

_  
A/N: hey guys again sorry it took so long but hope you enjoyed it, just for arguments sake all those numbers mentioned Einstein's theory and the description of slipspace in the first part are entirely (or at least mostly) factual. I know this Chapter is short but I'm blank, still nothing on the Kelly/Halsey incident. By next Chapter I'll continue the Covenant point of view and I also hope to soon introduce the Prophet of Truth's point of view._

_PS. I changed my narrating style I think its way better, tell me what u think!_

_PPS. Guys come on I just checked hits for the first time and I just noticed that practically NO ONE reviews I enabled anonymous reviewers so really theres no excuse please it __wont take two minutes of ur time just review_


	6. Intolerable Deception

_Alright I'm Back for Chapter 6, I have what I believe is a pretty good idea as to what Halsey wants with Kelly I will admit right now that it is NOT the all too popular Halo 6 theory I did consider it a lot but I found that if I'm tired of hearing it u should be too I got tired of hearing the same theory over and over again so I came up with my own which I will hopefully demonstrate soon I understand if anyone else wishes to use that theory as well so as to not keep using the Halo 6 thing but Im pretty sure ur supposed to tell me about it first if not then feel free to use it_

_**Warrior: **like I said I already thought up of a, at least I think it is, new way to explain it_

_**JT: **that's my bad then srry bout that but hey its my fanfic so just pretend that didn't happen_

_**BassGSX**(or however u spell it): fine I give up I'll THOROUGHLY check every new chapter_

_**Bob: **not to insult anyone else but I think that's the best review I've had so far… I realized its true what u said in the first part at first I didn't understand but then I remembered that "west" is based on EARTHS gravity and rotation so my bad I changed it. For Einsteins theory I know what ur saying I first wrote on it from memory since I wasn't near an internet connection but when I checked the infinite fuel thing I was stumped by how to continue but I came up with a loophole which I will soon use, I'm hoping in the next few chapter I can explain the loophole and how to dodge the infinite power thing. Anyway great review (someone paid attention in school) I hope u'll do it again, and yes it was VERY helpful, usually it's a review that gets me to sit down and keep writing for this chapter it was this one hope u review again_

**Intolerable Deception**

**1900 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard rebel force Chiroptera-class vessel _Delta one-two-two-five,_ in Slipspace.**

Doctor Halsey sighed deeply. They had been flying none stop on the cramped ship for several hours. At least in a large ship you could walk around talk to someone.

She had to do but sit in the cockpit staring at a large unconscious woman in a full ton body armor.

Over the last twenty minutes she had been struggling with the AI, Aria. Aria, a 'dumb' AI specialized in encryption and decryption, was the only reason Halsey had been able to enable the Chiroptera's Slipspace drive.

"Is it _really_ that necessary?" asked the AI pleadingly. "It might be essential for our survival" Halsey replied. "It might be our only hope of putting up some type of front, there is no denying it we are falling behind in number and technology" she said in a solemn tone.

"If it's what we need to do then it will be done" she sighed deeply. "No one ever said it would be fair to them" She was sure that if they had asked any of the Spartans they would have all come forth as volunteers, no matter what the cost.

They would have gladly given their lives for the greater good, yet Halsey sensed it still wasn't fair. They had grown their entire life under the belief that all life was expendable for the greater good. Nothing else could have been expected of them.

From the corner of her eyes Halsey noticed that Kelly, two hours ahead of schedule, began to stir.

Halsey checked her watch and for the millionth time cursed herself for underestimating one of her Spartans.

She stood up and sat down next to the secured examination table in which Kelly had been laying. "You should be feeling a mild disorientation, try not to move to fast give your muscles a second to wake up properly."

Before Halsey finished the sentence Kelly was already sitting straight up and inspecting her surroundings, once again a Spartan had proven that they were not to be taken lightly, she was fully functional and rearing to go in a matter of seconds. Most soldiers took more than a half hour.

"Doctor Halsey" she went to salute but Halsey stopped her with a wave of her hand. She wasn't too fond of military protocol.

"Do you feel alright? No pain or discomfort?" asked Halsey gesturing toward the area in which she had performed a mild surgery before leaving the _Gettysburg_.

The answer was anything but unexpected "Never better ma'am." She paused glancing over at the black view screen. "Um… Doctor?" Halsey turned to look at her "Are we in slipspace?" she gestured at the view screens.

"Yes we are" she answered with a hint of finality. It was not in a Spartans nature to question his superiors but still Kelly felt something was wrong.

"What happened to the _Gettysburg_?" she asked trying not to sound accusing

"They are continuing along their own way toward Earth, I have, however, received a personal message from higher up that I was to abort the mission if necessary for the completion of a much more important, much more secretive operation" _Lie._ No one besides her knew what she was really planning to do.

"But I decided to take only one Spartan with me" _Lie._ One was all she could get.

"The other mission, in my eyes, should not be delayed, Cortana is carrying very valuable information and I would prefer to make sure she got to Earth as quickly as possible" _Lie._ She would have gladly taken Cortana with her if it would not have caused unwanted questions.

Finally Kelly spoke again, even though she knew Halsey was either not telling her the whole truth, or flat out lying. "Then where are we going?" she asked curiously.

Halsey smiled sweetly glad to finally be able to answer truthfully. "Reach"

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Step of Silence\Covenant Holy City "Privileged Society," Living Quarters.**

'Nuromee stared in disbelief from the outside of his home. He did not even notice that his fists were clenched and his whole body shaking.

The pair of brutes left through the back door of his home. Glancing back toward the house a moment before turning and walking away. 'Nuromee stood unmoving, he was now a witness to an attempted murder which was intended for him.

Two brutes had come in through the back door as noiselessly as possible, which luckily was a decibel too loud.

'Nuromee had jumped out the window of his two story home and landed noiselessly in the back yard he then climbed back up to get a look at what the brutes intended to do.

Too afraid he would be seen by poking his head through the window he thanked the Gods for having given him a home with a highly reflective metal allow which was also used to make the older version of the elite's armor now it was used to strengthen the foundation of homes.

Using these reflective surfaces he was able to watch them as they moved around the house searching for him. As they entered his room he was suddenly horrored by the sight of a needle in one of the brutes hands.

The needle was empty. Or so it seemed he knew why the other pilots were now dead they were _murdered_. The needle was not empty, it contained a high level of hydrogen rich air. Deadly poisonous to elites.

Even thought they breathed a small amount of it, highly concentrated amounts were beyond dangerous. Death without a trace, the perfect crime.

As he stood on the side of his house he pondered desperately what he should do.

A few moments later he was decided. He would got to the hierarchs, the prophets would want to know of this treason. Brutes were now the enemy.

He was about to jump back down to his lawns when one of the brutes said in a horribly raspy tone. "He is not here. Let's go. We can come back later." As they were both leaving 'Nuromee's house, one of them said something that was the cause of 'Nuromee's astonishment and rage.

He was looking at the house which had been his home for eight years in which he fathered three children and lost his wife, when he realized this would be the last time he ever saw it.

He turned around and started to run. The brutes last words still echoing in his mind and he felt a great surge of treason.

He flashed back to the brutes' exact words which still had him dumbfounded. As the brutes exited the house he had distinctly heard one of them say "The hierarchs will not be pleased."

**1907 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

"Wait a second" said Fred shaking his head "It's impossible to pass the speed of light, closest we've ever gotten to is eighty-seven percent. No way we have the equipment or energy to get us up to speed"

"Well I thought of that" she said, a wry smile now forming at the corner of her mouth. "But, you see, there are several places in the universe where even the most fundamental laws of physics crumble away into meaningless dribble" she smiled broadly.

"And one of them just happens to be a stony meteorite-throw ahead"

"Would you mind sharing with us what this miraculous place might be?" asked Johnson his tone gruff.

Cortana smiled and said "A black hole happens to be one and a half hour away." The Chief's head shot upward.

"You're kidding right?" asked Fred uncertainly although he already knew the answer. "What about the black holes horizon? You know? Hitting singularity in a matter of seconds and the fact that once you enter a black whole nothing comes out?"

A black hole from the outside would not be anything cataclysmic so long as you stay out of the horizon, which isn't all that big, the pull of gravity from out of the horizon is nothing overwhelming. Once crossing the horizon which is several kilometers from the center of the black hole you would be instantaneously pulled into the center. Once crossing the horizon there is no going back. Since so much mass is compacted in such a small space the escape velocity of a black hole, which is the speed needed to break from the objects gravitational pull, exceeds the speed of light. Since nothing can go faster than light nothing can escape. You could even switch on a beam of light traveling outward and it would be pulled back and sucked in. But it had been proved that within black holes, strange things could happen

Everyone looked slightly alarmed or uncertain.

"You don't think I thought of that?" she asked in a huffy voice. "First of all we are in slipspace so real space factors do not affect us. Why do you think we can even go through planets without our vessel so much as twitching?" Not to mention we only have to get into the horizon, and since black holes only pull from things in real space anything in slipspace should be just fine."

"Besides I have _no_ intention of going through the black hole, just a region that is affected by it"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" asked Johnson.

She again smiled knowingly "The curvature of space."

"Very large gravitational fields have a knack of curving the space around them, Technically the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line but a curved one. We only believe it's a straight line because the very materials we are using to measure are curved as well" she paused a moment.

"Because of this curvature we should be able to come within a small distance of the horizon and still experience the side effects we would from inside it."

"And how exactly does a black whole defy the laws of physics?" asked Johnson, and Fred and Will looked over at Cortana wondering the same thing.

"Well imagine these—" she lifted her hand to shoulder height and from it a small 3-D display of what seemed to be perfectly round spheres sitting on a piece of a flat paper thin material creating small dents beneath them "Are how a planet affects the space around it. See how it curves the area around it? Now they merely create small ripples in space now imagine—" the hologram shifted and displayed a huge ripple which in circumference was the same size as planets but it fell down until it reached the floor where there was unmistakably a rupture.

"That this is how a black hole affects space. It actually breaks the fabric of time and space nothing inside it has meaning or definition. While once inside it takes merely seconds to hit singularity we on the outside believe it is taking forever."

"Black holes have faster than light velocities, and completely ignore every fundamental law"

"They will most certainly be necessary if we are about to attempt the undoable. Not only do we need them for speed but energy as well. To get up to the speed of light it is believed that one needs an infinite power source and you see Black holes can break laws like the law of conservation of matter, and" she paused a moment "the law of conservation of energy"

_A/N: hey again guys hoped u like that chapter I hope this explains part of the loophole I was talking about and again just for the record everything here about black holes is factual, they can ignore any law, can trap light and are impossible to escape. They have a horizon and it is believed that they either destroy matter or transport it to their negative called a "white hole" although it is not proven that "white holes" exist the math works just as black holes suck stuff in white holes (if they are truly existent) spit stuff out. Its even believed that two might join up to form a "wormhole" through which u'd enter in one and come out the other millions of miles away or possibly in another time! That's right since they rupture time as well as space it might be possible, of course u'd still die before reaching the other end being roasted by gamma rays and stuff but they sound pretty cool. If ud like to hear more about black holes just google it and enter an FAQ or something I found one when looking for more info one Einstein's theory of relativity_

_Anyway hope u liked this chapter im getting further in on the Kelly Halsey incident and maybe a few of u already know what they might want with Reach_


	7. Catching Up

_Ok Im back for the long awaited chapter 7, I know its taken a hell of a long time but gimme a break I have had other stuff to deal with and haven't really tried to write in the past few weeks, but lucky for you today Im bored out of my mind and have come up with the next few steps of this slowly developing story but hey, beggars cant be choosers…or at least they shouldn't be, Oh and finally I admit that I was NOT completely original and will not be in the chapters to come, at least in a few small parts which are mostly quotes and stuff like that from movies, not fics, just little things I thought would be appropriate for this story so please don't flame me if u know any of them, by the way, my computer caught a virus so Word got deleted and now I have to use WordPad, so please forgive anything weird you might see, and sorry it took so long but better late than never I guess_

_**Starcraft addict:**_

_-ok mi'll try to keep the techno babble down  
-i'll try to make it a bit more easier to understand  
-i barely mention halo but ok  
-because the pulse laser is much easier to dodge, perhaps i didnt make it clear but its not because of the pulse lasers effect its because for the covenant to charge a weapon most of their energy has to be rerouted to that weapon, but the weapon was destroyed and their energy was gone  
-they use plasma because thats the best weapon they have  
-i dont mention a shotgun...EVER in the whole story i didnt mention a shotgun ONCE  
-they have barely communicated so whats with the signals/verbal communication?  
-"electronics have been the only major field that halo "humans" have advanced greatly in" ...so?  
-"UNSC companies are not composed of platoons, which are composed of squads; instead they rely on "fire teams" of fifteen to twenty" again what are u talking about?  
-"Pelicans are just big targets, not dropships" are u sure u read THIS story?  
-"the "Covenant" seems to be as stupid as a retarded baby" i have barely mention the covenant unless u mean the brutes in which case they're suposed to be stupid  
-"no tactics, strategy involved whatsoever" no place to use tactics and strategy, just one space battle that DOES have them  
-"the story line in the books make no sense at all" thats great but why are u telling me?  
-"in "The Fall of Reach", covenant plasma weaponry behave much more differently than those described in "First Strike"" yes because cortana found a way to update them, im using the new method_

_**To more than one person: **Like i said this chapter is in wordpad so please be nice on the gramatical errors_

_**Everyone else: **Thanks everyone so far for reviewing i hope you like this chapter, a little short but enjoy it_

**Catching Up**

**0423 hours, September 18, 2552 (Military Calendar)\ONI Headquarters, _The Millennium Tower (testing facility)_, Earth.**

"Bring her up!"

The entire testing facility was filled to the limit with people from all around the universe all of them staring at a single person just behind the roped off area.

"That's it hold it!" said Fhajad. He turned to look at the mass of people, although he saw no movement most people could still be heard talking and discussing loudly what this event might possibly be. "Alright everyone, let's keep it down to a low roar."

Instantly there was a dead silence. Everyone stared pointedly at Fhajad.

He smiled. It seemed unfair that no one there would ever know that this was a Section Three project, Section Four was going to take all the credit, even though it had taken Section Four eighty-four work hours to perfect the design, another three to brief the Section Four board and a full day to get the demonstration ready.

But they couldn't risk the public learning the truth. He didn't care, he was used to it. Ever since he was a five year old child he had been overshadowed by his older brother, and it had taken its toll on him.

"So what's all this about Admiral?" Fhajad was snapped back to reality and turned toward the Section Four administrator.

"You'll find out soon enough, sir." He had never really liked the man. He turned around and yelled "Alright lets fire it up!"

For a few moments no one moved. As a standard issue destroyer was brought forward. Everyone stared quizzically at it as nothing happened. The administrator shot Fhajad an inquisitive look, and again looked back at the vessel.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Fhajad started. "Since the tragedy at Harvest we have been facing what is undoubtedly a superior enemy." No one moved. Dead silence.

"For too long we have suffered from the technology so advanced, that we have never been able to keep up with. For too long we have been forced to bow to the power of that which was inexplicable" he paused. "_That_, ends here and now." Without another word he turned on his wheels.

Two red targets were being painted on the destroyer, one on each side, as ten marines filed out fully dressed for combat. Five of them went to the left, and the other five to the right.

"Were showing green across the board" said one of the men at the control panel. He smiled "Lets do it!"

Fhajad turned back to the crowd "each of these two groups," he said gesturing at the marines "Will have ten seconds to inflict as much damage as possible to the targets" he again turned around leaving everyone more confused than ever.

"Group one if you will" the marines on the left shrugged and in unison began firing at the red target. When the ten seconds were over several hundred shots had been fired and two grenades had blown. The target was barely visible as many semi-armor piercing rounds had been buried a few inches into the target and two large black marks had been made.

"Thank you very much" said Fhajad. The people could not have been more lost. "Now if you please" he said at the man in the control panel. This one pressed a few buttons on the computer and gave Fhajad the thumbs up.

"Now group two if you will" These marines looking just as puzzled as the crowd opened fire.

When the cloud from the grenades settled and the last shot was fired, there was a collective gasp from the crowd. The red mark was perfectly preserved, nothing had happened. A small yellowish color rippled around the area that had just been fired upon.

"As you can see" said Fhajad gesturing behind him at the destroyer. "We have only just managed to duplicate the wonderous mystery that is the vessel shielding system" behind him men and women were emptying the cans of red paint on the destroyer and a standard issue field mine was being fixed on top of the ship.

Although it was barely visible, there was a small gap between the exterior of the ship and anything "touching" it from the outside. The paint was running freely and the mine was being activated. A few moments later a huge _bang_ and a cloud of smoke went up with the same yellowish ripples across the hull of the ship.

Fhajad nodded toward the man in the control panel. There was a flicker in the shields and they vanished, as the red paint fell and hit the actual hull of the ship, the area around the mine was unharmed.

"Not only have we duplicated the design" said Fhajad. "We are now able to mold the shield into virtually any shape or form" there was a pause. "Allow me to demonstrate"

A small table was brought out, in the middle of it there seemed to be a metal plate-like disc. A metal stand was brought out and placed on top of the disc, on top of it was another field mine, this one was activated by remote control.

Fhajad nodded to the man in the control panel once more, he pushed a few buttons and nodded back to Fhajad.

"Would you do us the honor?" said Fhajad at the administrator handing him the remote. He uncertainly took it. There was a moments pause as he pushed the button. There was a muffled _bang_ as a perfectly round cloud of smoke appeared were the mine had just been. The man at the control panel pushed a few more buttons and the cloud was released, slowly rising and losing its shape as it went. Until it vanished completely.

Everyone looked back at the table, the disc was perfectly preserved, the stand was no where to be seen.

"Well I'll be damned" said the administrator softly. "The son of a bitch pulled it off."

A few minutes later everyone was clapping, talking and laughing; they finally had _something_ to laugh about.

Fhajad smiled tiredly. Section Three had just made ONI history for what felt like the millionth time.

**2026 hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard UNSC vessel _Gettysburg,_ in Slipspace.**

"We have less than ten minutes left everyone lets rap it up!"

It had been tricky, but Cortana felt they had done the best they could. It had taken them almost an hour but she was confident about the job they had done.

She had chosen thin materials made out of the simplest mixture of elements so the molecules would break into atoms faster, energy had been running low and they only had enough for less than half an hour. _More than enough, _she thought.

Everything had been planned out beforehand. When the _Gettysburg_ entered the Black hole she would bring them back to normal space for less than an eigth of a second and bring them back to slipspace, that way they would get the full blast of the impact and come back, hopefully, before anydamage is done.

The spartans were being pulled out from the "mission" and were making their way back to the bridge. John didn't like having to resort to such a long shot, he had even debated it for a few minutes but when he asked for any alternatives it was obvious that there was only one thing to do. He was hoping that the same luck that had kept him alive all these years would hold out.

They all gathered around the viewscreens in the bridge, even though there was nothing to look at. They all stood silent for a few minutes.

"I want you all to know" said John, his tone expresionless. "Whatever happens..." they could feel the cliche coming but stayed silent all the same. "It's been a pleasure working with you"

There was moments pause and then Johnson hit him in the back saying "You sound like we're never getting out of here, c'mon boys smile, we'll be home in no time."

No one knew that for sure but they all aprecciated it all the same.

"Uhh guys" said Cortana. "I hate to break you're little moment here but we're intercepting in ninety seconds"

They all snapped back to Earth as John said "Alright, we dont know what to expect so everyone buckle up"

As everyone was strapping into a seat Johnson was smiling broadly as he said his signature line which he always used when he was among his marines. "Alright everyone you know the drill, in case of an emergency put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye."

"Ten seconds to intercept" said Cortana, even she seemed to be bracing herself for the interception.

"Alright everyone brace yourselves!" said John with not a trace of fear in his voice.

"Five...four...three" Cortanas counting gave the eerie feeling of a time bomb about to go off.

"Here we go!" yelled Johnson as their time reached zero.

Cortana knew that somwhere stored in her memory bank she had data that described human fear and terror. Being an AI she found it hard to imagine how such an experience felt, but she knew that if she would ever come close to understanding it, it would be at that moment.

She had brought them back to normal space and back to slipspace just as had been planned, but what hadnt been planned was the _Gettysburg _coming to a complete stop, as it did, Cortana could have sworn her "heart" stopped with it.

It took a full two seconds before the _Gettysburg_ was fired forward at blinding speed and another four before anyone was able to move at all.

Sometime in the next ten seconds where John was finally able to move they heard his rough voice asking "Is eveyone alright?" After everyone was accounted for, which took just a few moments Cortana checked their ship status. Her "jaw" dropped, she couldnt help but smile. She had to dump almost a third of the energy they had just aquaired, from the sheer abundance of it.

She cheked the new estimated time of arrival and smiled even broader. Then she noticed John asking her about the ETA. She pretended to be busy with something to keep from answering.

He turned over to Fred who was seated at the control panel and asked him to check their ETA.

Fred turned around and started typing in a few words, when the answer popped up he froze. He blinked hard and looked again more closely.

John saw his hesitation and asked again. When he didnt answer he walked behind him and saw what had stunned Will.

"Suit up" he said turning slowly to the rest of them. "ETA is thirty-two seconds"

_A/N: Ok i KNOW this chapter is short but i only had a vague idea on what to write so I'm sorry and I dont have anything for a future update so looks like it might be another long wait. On the bright side I'm planning on starting a Robert Langdon fic soon, if you dont know who Robert Langdon is please exit my fic, i mean it. I know i shouldnt do too many fics at a time but its just too good an idea for me to pass up. I'm hoping by the next chapter i can add to Mitchell and Halsey's story, maybe 'Nuromee and the Prophets but who knows we'll see what happens. Keep reviewing since thats usually what prompts me to write another chapter, this one not included_


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